05/30/2026
“Newly wed and nearly dead.” This is the adage by which Victoria has long been known — a quaint, if sleepy, coastal town, where young couples settle down to raise their families alongside retirees seeking a quieter life outside the big city. So, when we visited Design Victoria earlier this month, the unmistakable energy in the air took us by pleasant surprise. As far as design scenes go, the BC capital is hardly on the global radar when compared with established epicentres like Milan and New York. But there is something exciting about exploring a city that is, in many ways, still becoming — and meeting the players who are shaping it in real time.
In Victoria, questions of housing, public access and reconciliation aren’t abstract planning debates; they’re actively shaping the built environment, from a church redevelopment by MA+HG Architects and Aryze Developments that treats heritage as cultural infrastructure to public installations that surface erased ecological histories.
Read our full recap of the design festival here: https://www.azuremagazine.com/article/design-victoria-2026/
